Attention fathers and mothers of newborns...

[Ron_Hendrix]

How the hell do you go and lift on such little sleep? I'm currently getting around 4-5 hours of sleep a night and while I was supposed to go to the gym today and do sets across with 325, I just couldn't muster the energy from anywhere, despite taking an ECA stack and a Coke. Any tips or tricks would be helpful!

[OCG]

You don't.

[Ron_Hendrix]

Not gonna stop lifting cause life gets in the way...gonna change things up some, but not just gonna not lift at all.

[Kyle Schuant]

My first child was born June 22nd.

I didn't stop lifting, but I did stop weights progression. So now the progress is in mastery of the technique, which comes from putting the repetitions in. I sure as shit am not going to be adding weight or reps right now, though.

[JemmyButton]

I started the program when my baby got to 8 weeks old and was sleeping just enough (5- 6 hours). 80% of the time my wife attends to all pre 5am issues so I'm getting at least 6-7 hours sleep.

I purposefully delayed the start of the program until I was getting just enough sleep and things were starting to settle down. I couldn't imagine doing the program in the first 4-6 weeks of having baby at home. It's just too much (IMO), especially when you have to do a full days work as well.

I don't know how old your bub is, but I'm finding each week get a little bit easier (bub is now 3 months old).

[JemmyButton]

My first child was born June 22nd.

Congrats Kyle. You must still be in the what-the-hell-has-just-happened stage

I'm actually using the Bronze, Silver, Gold standards from your blog as interim goal posts for my SS program. Makes a lot of sense to me and gives me a bit of motivation. Aiming to get to Silver in the next month or so, if the progression works as it should.

[Kyle Schuant]

Well I'm 40 and have been wanting kids since I was 18, so it's not too startling to me. I mean no matter what like a double bodyweight squat you are never truly ready, but there are degrees of "oh fuck!"

Good luck with your goals. SS can take you much further than what I suggested, my standards were set in the context of a community gym where you don't need to be strong to stand out, if you squat below parallel and deadlift at all, you stand out.

[Mart002]

Finally, it is my opinion that training (unless you get paid for your physical abilities) is a hobby and should be fun. You shouldn't be having to grind through 3-4 hours of stuff you don't enjoy as a leisure activity. If it gets to that point, try doing something else - you won't explode into a ball of internet shame for taking a few months off - swim, climb, hike, get out and about with your family and enjoy your time

Agree here, just enjoy the first few months... but it may never change, my first starting sleeping through 12hrs a night lovely my 2nd was in pain for some reason, milk tolerance problem we never did work it out but couldnt put her down for 10mins until she was asleep and then she was up nearly every 3-4 hours. Then she was OK once on the full milk and whole food... but then the other one starting playing up and waking up the younger... story goes on and on, I think I only get around 2-3 full nights sleep and its rare the pair of them are down together at 7 clock. they are 2 years and 1 years old now. brace yourself

[ryno06]

mine are already 7 and 9, but i do remember those sleepless nights and then having to go work the next day. it will get better. they will eventually sleep through the night. we had the kids on a schedule of feeding ever 4 hours and then just dropped the nightime feeding at some point. As well, one of my kids was colic and the other colic and acid reflux which lasted about the first 6 months. miserable!!! my way of getting my workouts in was just hit an energy drink and go do it. if you are really that tired, get sleep. listen to your body. sleep is just as important as working out especially when you're being interrupted all night. good luck and enjoy the little one(s).

[Paul Sousa]

When my son was born I went to a two day/week 5/3/1 template and actually made a bit of progress on it. I did Press/DL on one day and Bench/Squat on another. I kept the accessory work short. I would get both sessions done in under an hour. It worked perfectly for the first couple months and I came back a little bit stronger.